To all prospective and serving corp members...

This thread will share a lot of experience and answer a lot of questions about the compulsory youth service corp. It will also explain how to make the best use of your service year. Please feel free to ask questions regarding the scheme.

I want to use this medium to extend my felicitations and warm congratulations to the outgoing 2014 batch C corp members and also welcome on board the prospective 2015 batch B corp members.

Please stay tuned and make the best use of every bit of information and advice you get on this thread and I promise you'll never regret you did.

#1. Where is the best state to serve?

This is probably the most asked question about NYSC and here is my honest opinion about it.

Of course people have various reasons for asking this questions. To majority, what they simply mean is 'which state pays the highest monthly allowance'. To some its a question of where they can enjoy themself and have maximum fun while to some, its a question of Job opportunities. However there's so much more to look forward to such as weather/climate, safety, road/communication network, social amenities and infrastructure, cost and standard of living amongst other things.

Usually my advice to people is to enndeavour to explore other parts and regions of the country as it may be the only opportunity for you to visit such places in a life time. If you are from the south west try places like the south south(Akwa Ibom, Enugu), if you are from the south south try places like Kano and Kaduna, if you are from the North, try places like Oyo or Ogun state.

Based on the above criteria, I will list some states and the values/benefit you may stand to get.

Akwa Ibom- excellent road network accessibility, one of the high paying states (10k is the least if you work in a govt parastatal), decent social amenities, very safe, great weather. Uyo/Ikot Ekpene are excellent places to serve

Kaduna- Although many people do not know that kaduna is a very nice place to stay, most part of kaduna is well civilized and if you find yourself in this civilized parts, I bet you'll not want to leave after your service year.

Oyo state- this is also one of d best state to serve in the South West but make sure your PPA is in Ibadan or at worst oyo town. Standard of living is very cheap, road and communication network is decent, state allowance is less than 5k and Ibadan is home to quite a lot of industries.

Enugu- Enugu town is dope. The state govt also pays 10k for corpers in state parastatals, decent road network and a beautiful place to be too.

Abuja- Excellent road and communication network, home to a lot of companies, very safe save for the outskirt, standard of living is expensive.

Lagos- Lagos has everything you look forward to in your service year save for the fact that the standard of living is high. There's no company that doesn't have an office in lagos.

Rivers- Home of Nigeria's oil and gas, safe, also one of Nigeria's high paying states for corpers, standard of living is quite expensive, good road and communication network.

#2 During your service year?

At the very beginning or rather in your first few months, NYSC will seem like its never going to end. As a matter of fact you may never enjoy your service year if you don't put the right attitudes and effort into it. As a matter of fact I regret not doing some things during my service year and I wish I just have another chance to correct some mistakes.

Starting from your day one in camp please put in your best attitude and character. Participate in everything that interests you( parade, sports/games, cooking, fellowship, make sure you visit maami at least 3 tyms, man O' war drills, socials) make friends, hang out and interact with people..just do anything that will make you happy during your service year because the memory will forever linger on. Also try to visit your neighbouring states and go to significant places that landmarks the state you are serving. Give your best at your place of primary assignment (something I wished I had done) let them notice that corper XYZ was here, and please save some money no matter your background its very neccessary(I'll come to that later) and try to update yourself regularly no matter the bush you are posted to.

Following

#3 Preparing for Camp

Some people most especially ladies go to NYSC camp like they are travelling to somalia or going to spend 10 years there. However what surprises me the most is when guys do same too.

Things are generally expensive in NYSC camps so its only necessary that some things be taken along such as your bedsheet and cover cloth, enough white shorts and white vests, and most importantly stock yourself with enough cash. Because of the irregular power supply, you might need a power bank for your phone.

Also prepare for the most frustrating 3 weeks of your life as almost everything will frustrate you during those 21days starting from the food in camp, the soldiers, the boring lectures, the toilets and bathroom, water supply, early morning waking up 5am, the hostels, the unending queues..there's almost nothing you won't queue up for, and if you land yourself in some serious troubles, you might be dekitted, lol.
But trust me that will be the most memorable part of your NYSC year, infact you'll always grab any opportunity to visit the camp again.

Continue bro, we are listening/reading

following closely bro. nice one.

#4. After Camp

This is probably when the reality of NYSC starts dawning on you. At this point you are practically on your own and then you'll start hating NYSC. What I personally don't like about the NYSC scheme is in its inability to provide a level playing ground for everybody participating in the scheme. For instance why should I be posted to a school in a village where there's no good accomodation, no network, no bank, no roads, no social infrastructure or amenities and my friend who we did the same course and probably graduated from the same school gets posted to a company in the capital where there's all the amenities and infrastrusture, gets a company where he can learn and boost his experience while I am in a village practically adding nothing to my self. Honestly there are a lot of questions about how people are been posted in NYSC. When I was serving one of my friend who studied physics got posted to the ministry of finance and another friend of mine who studied accounting was posted to teach in a school. Then I ask who's supposed to be in a school between the two of them. (Well I'll talk about this later on).

After the 21 days of camping, you'll start a new life entirely. Its more frustrating if you are posted to a village, I mean very frustrating but trust me you'll be over it in a couple of months. At least it will help you to save some money. As a matter of fact you can only save more if you are in a village where the standard of living is low as against been in the city.

One of my friend was shedding tears already on her way to where she was posted.

I remember some of my friends begging the principal to reject them giving one excuse or the other just because they want to go back to the city. Those who cannot cope with village life seek redeployment and rework their postings to cities and states of their choice.

Welcome to NYSC!!

Nice one bro....well Said

Are You Done?
Still following expecting more tips

OboloMAN:
Are You Done?

Still following expecting more tips

Not done yet sir, many more updates coming up

mroyato:

Not done yet sir, many more updates coming up

Ok, Be quick wif the updates so we can lobby Lalasticlala to F.P it

am following strongly

following strongly too..

#5 The Fellowships

At last the much awaited service year has properly began after the 21 days of 'torture' in camp and you have been thrown to the streets. You'll see a lot of jubilations on the last day of camp. Yeeeeeeeee! I was posted to XYZ company, while some will be asking please where is this place(they have simply been posted to the bush).

That day there would be a lot of cars, buses and fellowships to pick you up(NCCF, RCCF, MSSN, Winners, catholic, Baptist etc) and its most likely you'll end up with one of them as you are probably new and you need some help.

Big shoutout to all the fellowship, you guys rock..but trust me you won't find it funny with them in your first few days especially with their lengthy rules and programs. Some particular fellowships will ask you to leave if you cannot comply and at least for d purpose of that day you'll form compliance and plan to run away as soon as you are done with your registrations. The most frustrating part is usually the morning devotion bell at 5am, trust me it sucks especially if you are not used to such from home and the numerous number of people struggling to share one room. After the frustrating spell in camp, you are probably looking for somewhere to rest and sleep properly but that's the opposite of what you'll get in the fellowships house usually called the family house.

However on the contrary that's the best place you can ever be. Yes I wasn't mistaken, the family house is the best place you can ever be during your service year. You'll get fed and housed for up to 2 weeks or more for free and you'll be guided on how to go about your registration at your place of primary assignment.

Its a place like a home, a shelter, a guide. A place to serve.

Big shoutout to RCCF Ikot Ekpene, RCCF Uyo, NCCF IK, NCCF Uyo

Following. Feb 2016, here I come

Following you with my bottle of alomo

Informative thread... Eyes Glued.

Cc Donpsymon, onuwaje, keribaby

#6 First day at PPA

On your posting letter (the letter given to you on the final day of camp) is an address at the topmost left of the letter followed by about say ten instructions to your employer. That address is your PPA..your place of primary assignment and that's where you are likely going to complete your service year once accepted save for relocation to another state or you are being rejected as some places outrightly reject corpers and you can also induce them to reject you. Which ever category of rejection you fall into, it can really mean a bad start for you especially if you are new to that state/environment as it is now your full responsibility to find yourself a new place of primary assignment. If you have a nice local government inspector(this man/woman is your Lord during your nysc year) well he/she might decide to help you get a new posting but if not....just get ready for a rough start as it may take months before you are able to officially file and process a new place of primary assignment.

Well depending on what you want and your motive during your service year serving in a city or a village could mean different things. If you are someone who really looks forward to having fun and getting a social life, then lobby your way to a city or probably the state capital. However, as you all know the standard of living in most Nigerian city is high as compared to the villages, choosing or lobbying to serve in a city is at the expense of your money but you'll surely enjoy it as most city schools usually have fair accomodation and you also stand to enjoy some social amenities and infrastructure which you'll never come across in the villages.

The next day after camp everyone wants to go to their PPA at least to see how the place looks before knowing what to do next. I remember moving from Ikot Ekpene to my PPA that day..at a point I had to tell the bike man to stop that I wasn't interested in the Journey any longer after about 45minutes of high speed movement without any trace of my PPA in view. My other colleague, a lady bursted into tears as MTN network vanished from our phones. We never knew our journey just started. We travelled further for close to an hour and then we were in our PPA. Some blocks of classrooms without windows and doors, floors looking almost bare and dusty and all that I could smell was hell for the next one year should I choose to be here.

Some of us decided to beg for rejection but the principal refused to reject us..I mean ain't we supposed to serve our father land under the sun or in the rain with dedication and selflessness?? The school need corpers so we can't afford to reject you. How about the corpers lodge, something like a stable used for horse breeding or rather a long abandoned project yet some people managed to stay there. I tell you NYSC year can be so frustrating especially if you ve never had a rough background and you find yourself in one of those villages.

Welcome to another phase of your NYSC year..the good thing is that you are not alone..at least there's always someone to talk to...God!!

Good of you

RemyMartins:
Cc Donpsymon, onuwaje

What's up bro?

mroyato:
#6 First day at PPA

On your posting letter (the letter given to you on the final day of camp) is an address at the topmost left of the letter followed by about say ten instructions to your employer. That address is your PPA..your place of primary assignment and that's where you are likely going to complete your service year once accepted save for relocation to another state or you are being rejected as some places outrightly reject corpers and you can also induce them to reject you. Which ever category of rejection you fall into, it can really mean a bad start for you especially if you are new to that state/environment as it is now your full responsibility to find yourself a new place of primary assignment. If you have a nice local government inspector(this man/woman is your Lord during your nysc year) well he/she might decide to help you get a new posting but if not....just get ready for a rough start as it may take months before you are able to officially file and process a new place of primary assignment.

Well depending on what you want and your motive during your service year serving in a city or a village could mean different things. If you are someone who really looks forward to having fun and getting a social life, then lobby your way to a city or probably the state capital. However, as you all know the standard of living in most Nigerian city is high as compared to the villages, choosing or lobbying to serve in a city is at the expense of your money but you'll surely enjoy it as most city schools usually have fair accomodation and you also stand to enjoy some social amenities and infrastructure which you'll never come across in the villages.

The next day after camp everyone wants to go to their PPA at least to see how the place looks before knowing what to do next. I remember moving from Ikot Ekpene to my PPA that day..at a point I had to tell the bike man to stop that I wasn't interested in the Journey any longer after about 45minutes of high speed movement without any trace of my PPA in view. My other colleague, a lady bursted into tears as MTN network vanished from our phones. We never knew our journey just started. We travelled further for close to an hour and then we were in our PPA. Some blocks of classrooms without windows and doors, floors looking almost bare and dusty and all that I could smell was hell for the next one year should I choose to be here.

Some of us decided to beg for rejection but the principal refused to reject us..I mean ain't we supposed to serve our father land under the sun or in the rain with dedication and selflessness?? The school need corpers so we can't afford to reject you. How about the corpers lodge, something like a stable used for horse breeding or rather a long abandoned project yet some people managed to stay there. I tell you NYSC year can be so frustrating especially if you ve never had a rough background and you find yourself in one of those villages.

Welcome to another phase of your NYSC year..the good thing is that you are not alone..at least there's always someone to talk to...God!!

Lol I like this!


You should have a blog!

DonPsymon:



What's up bro?

Mehn I dey oh

Like I said in my first post, this thread is dedicated to helping you get the best of your service year by sharing some unavoidable events which you'll likely encounter during service and to also answer related questions to the best of my abilities. So in view of this, I'll like to respond in my next update to a message asking me to share some orientation camp experience.

Thank you for staying tuned!!

RemyMartins:


Mehn I dey oh

Abi...



You don buy camp things finish ko?

DonPsymon:



Abi...





You don buy camp things finish ko?

Hehehehehehe almost sha 14DAYS more.

Niggas be wan sell fake lux premium for me oh. If u see the stuff ehn dy like feather

RemyMartins:



Hehehehehehe almost sha 14DAYS more.

Niggas be wan sell fake lux premium for me oh. If u see the stuff ehn dy like feather

Lol broda


You for enter better boutique before you buy o...


Guys sef the hustle...


+ why you use lux sef I prefer chase deer o

DonPsymon:

Lol broda
You for enter better boutique before you buy o...
Guys sef the hustle...
+ why you use lux sef I prefer chase deer o

Their Chase and Comfort dy look funny. Na police I buy then just buy the lux to add up

RemyMartins:


Their Chase and Comfort dy look funny. Na police I buy then just buy the lux to add up

Abi o...


I go do my add ups for camp tho


I no wan carry plenty load.

mroyato:
Like I said in my first post, this thread is dedicated to helping you get the best of your service year by sharing some unavoidable events which you'll likely encounter during service and to also answer related questions to the best of my abilities. So in view of this, I'll like to respond in my next update to a message asking me to share some orientation camp experience.
Thank you for staying tuned!!

Op u go commercial break?